The invention relates to a modular plug and, more particularly, to a modular plug design which can accommodate Category 7 communications and which may be easily assembled.
The use of modular plugs and jacks for data transmission is known. Basically, in order to establish electrical communication and a data path between a first and second device, the first device may send information in the form of electrical signals into a cable that terminates in a plug. The second device may include a jack. The plug and jack are designed so as to be easily mechanically mate-able in a male-female configuration. Once the plug and jack are mated, electrical members in the plug and jack engage and are electrically mated so that electrical information signals may travel from the first device to the second device.
This plug and jack design is limited by the physical configuration of the modular plug and jack. As data transmission speeds have increased, electrical performance relating to the transfer of electrical signals from plug to jack, has been affected. Each plug and jack frequently includes multiple pairs of contacts used to communicate information. Cross talk between these pairs (where electrical signals in one pair affect electrical signals in another pair) and interference from sources external to the plug-jack configuration, become more of a factor at higher speeds. In order to transmit higher speed data while minimizing signal degradation, the plug and jack design changed from prior designs to include extra shielding.
Standards organizations such as the Telecommunication Industry Association and the International Organization for Standardization publish standards regarding performance specifications and equipment configurations for plugs and jacks. Different levels or “categories” have been defined for use in twisted-pair cabling such as where a single insulated sheath includes two twisted wires. For example, “Category 6” plugs and jacks should be able to handle data communications with a frequency up to 250 MHz. Category 6 plugs and jacks typically have eight contacts aligned in a row on exclusively either a top or bottom of the plug or jack. More recent requirements, e.g. Category 7, require plugs and jacks which can communicate at speeds as high as 600 MHz. To handle these data communication speeds, Category 7 plugs are designed to have contact pairs on both the top and bottom of the plug body in contrast with the eight contacts all on either a top or bottom as in Category 6 plugs and jacks.
In practice, a technician terminates a cable having wires disposed therein, with a modular plug. When dealing with slower speed communication such as Category 6, where contacts are all aligned on a single side of a plug, assembly of such a plug to a cable was fairly simple. However, prior art methods for meeting the requirements of Category 7 standards for modular plugs requires use of complex contact formations, extensive shielding and multiple housing components. Further, in prior art techniques, contacts of the plug are mated with the wires in the cable through use of a small pyramidal shaped pin which is pushed through the respective insulated wires of the cable. Such a connection is not reliable in that over time the pin may recede from the wires, or wire strands of the wires may move and the contact forces between pin and wires can degrade resulting in high resistance, intermittent connections.